Alaska’s Broadband Issues

The FCC www.fcc.gov is taking steps to address broadband access in Alaska and is in the process of developing an integrated plan for Alaska to address both fixed and mobile voice and broadband services needed in the high cost areas of the State.

Bringing broadband to Alaska’s last frontier has unique challenges. According to FCC Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn, “The Commission has made modifications in its universal service reforms to address Alaska’s unique position and has exempted it from the FCC’s Rate-of-Return Reform Order adopted this year. However, the Alaska Plan which this Order adopts in part has serious deficiencies.”

Therefore Commissioner Clyburn published a dissenting statement explaining her thoughts on the issues facing the state and how to meet those challenges. Number one issue is that the Alaska Plan continues to support multiple overlapping mobile providers.

According to the Commissioner, the Alaska Plan does little to address the real middle-mile problem in the state. Alaska’s geography makes deployment difficult but without affordable middle-mile connectivity, high cost program support spent on the last mile does little to improve communications services for Alaskans. It is a fact that some carriers can’t even deploy basic broadband service to their current voice customers without achieving better middle-mile support.

As she further explains, “The program is not in place to provide duplicative high-cost support to carriers in the same area. Instead, support should be given to areas that are unserved, and not subsidize competition in areas that already receive mobile service.” As reported, the cost to the American consumer to continue to support the overlap of broadband in Alaska is about $35 million a year.

The Commissioner summed up the issue by reporting that she and FCC Commissioner Pai are supporting an approach that would take the $35 million a year in duplicative Universal Service money, and use it to support a middle-mile mechanism that would enable many Alaskans to receive broadband for the very first time.

Go to https://www.fcc.gov/documents/fcc-takes-steps-address-broadband-access-alaska to view Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn’s statement. The full title is “Connect America Fund, (WT Docket No. 10-90), Universal Service Reform-Mobility fund, (WT Docket No. 10-208), Connect America Fund-Alaska Plan, (WC Docket No. 16-271).